You’re not imagining it, heartbreak DOES hurt – the 3 things it does to your body

BREAKUPS are often likened to a punch in the gut.

Turns out it’s not just a metaphor – the end of a relationship can do all sorts of things to your body, making you listless, restless and nauseated all at once.

One explanation is the multitude of emotions swirling through you – a given, whether or not the breakup was messy.

But heartbreak can also have an effect on your brain chemistry, hormone levels and even your heart, according to scientists.

Here are three things that can happen to your body when you’re going through the agonies of heartache.

1. Your body goes through ‘withdrawal’

According to neuroscientist Dr Lucy Brown, there’s a chemical cocktail that’s responsible for making us feel wretched after being dumped.

You might have heard of seratonin, oxytocin and dopamine. The three brain chemicals are associated with happiness, bonding and your brain’s reward system, in that order.

You’ll be buzzing with them in the throes of a (good) relationship but running low when it ends, the neuroscientist told Sky News.

A team of researchers including Dr Brown studied the impact of heartbreak in 15 young adults going through unwanted breakups.

Each had brain scans when shown pictures of their ex-partner, which showed parts of their brain associated with motivation and reward – where our dopamine neurons live – lighting up.

Dr Brown likened the overactivity in this part of the brain to what you’d see in a person addicted to cocaine.

“It’s like we’re addicted to each other,” she said.

“When we lose someone, we’ve lost a very rewarding part of our lives and sense of self. They’ve provided novelty in your life that now isn’t there, so we need some other rewards.”

So it makes sense that you effectively go through a chemical withdrawal when you’re no longer with a partner.

2. The pain isn’t just emotional

The pain of a breakup isn’t just emotional, nor is it metaphorical.

Your body might physically ache, according to research.

In 2010, three relationship researchers looked at the brain scans of 15 heartbroken people and found their emotional turmoil caused brain activity in the same areas where the brain processes physical pain.

Meanwhile, Florence Williams – who looked into the science of breakups after the end of her 25 year marriage left her anxious, sleepless and feeling like her body was under threat – also explained that rejection triggers a part of the brain called the insular cortex – the same part that responds to distress around pain.

The emotional stress of a breakup can also cause symptoms like headaches and nausea.

Dr Abishek Rolands told Sky News: “The most important thing to remember is even though there is no physical cause, the symptoms are very real – they are not made up or ‘all in the head’.”

3. A ‘broken heart’ is rare – but not impossible

In rare cases, the emotional agony of heartbreak or loss could actually ‘break’ your heart – in what’s called “broken heart syndrome” or takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

It basically involves the weakening of your heart’s left ventricle, its main pumping chamber.

According to Harvard Health, this can happen when someone undergoes severe emotional distress such as the loss of a loved one.

The precise reason it happens isn’t know, but experts think that a surge in stress hormones can essentially ‘stun’ someone’s heart.

The symptoms mirror those of a heart attack – severe pressure, heaviness, or pain in the chest – but without any blockage to your coronary arteries.

‘Brokenhearted’ people may also experience some shortness of breath, sudden fatigue, lightheadedness or be drenched in cold sweat.

Broken heart syndrome affects around 5,000 people a year in the UK, and is more common in menopausal women – most recover after a few weeks.

But the condition can cause some people’s hearts to permanently change shape and they may continue to experience symptoms such as tiredness, chest pain and lack of energy, according to the British Heart Foundation.